How to Make Vegan Sushi at Home

Sushi is a delicious and nutritious Japanese food. Basic ingredients such as carrot, cucumber and beetroot can be used to create delicious vegan sushi. They can be customised with a variety of fillings to suit your tastes using very little in the way or special equipment. A sushi rolling mat can be boughtcheaply online or from some supermarkets. It is also possible to buy moulds for making sushi. Or you could have a try at making it without either, as shown in this post from The Minimalist Baker – (http://minimalistbaker.com/how-to-make-sushi-without-a-mat/).

There are several types of rolled sushi including:

• Hosomaki – “thin roll” – rice on inside, nori on the outside

• Chumaki – “medium roll” – rice on inside, nori on the outside

• Futomaki – “thick roll” – rice on inside, nori on the outside

• Uramaki – “inside-out roll” – rice on outside, nori on the inside

• Temaki – “hand roll” – cone-shaped roll)

Vegan Sushi Recipes

I have included a selection of vegan sushi recipes. These can also be made gluten free by using tamari instead of soy sauce.

Nori Maki (Nori Rolled Sushi)

Su-meshi (vinegared rice) is used to make this tasty dish. You must use sushi rice as other types of rice are not sticky enough to sufficiently hold together. You can buy sushi rice from specialist food stores and some supermarkets. It is often in the world found isle or in the specialist ingredients section.

A bamboo sushi mat (Makisu) is used to roll the rice and filling covered nori (seaweed sheets) into tubes. It is then sliced into pieces. Fillings can comprise of pretty much anything you choose. The fillings will need to be sliced into sticks or strips.

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Temaki

These small sushi rolls are easy to make and are ideal for people unfamiliar with sushi making or for party food.

½ cup sushi rice
2 tbsp soy sauce
½ cucumber (1 cup) peeled, seeded and cut into matchsticks
3 tbsp sesame seeds
4 sheets of toasted nori
Small amount of water in a cup
1. Cook the rice according to the packet instructions. Allow the rice to cool, covered in the saucepan.

2. Toss the cucumber sticks in the soy sauce and set to one side.

3. Cut each of the sheets of nori into 3 strips.

4. Place one strip of nori in front of you on a flat dry surface. Place 1 tbsp of rice onto one end of the nori strip. Flatten the rice a little and add 5 or 6 cucumber matchsticks and sprinkle over a pinch of sesame seeds.

5. Pick up the corner of the nori underneath the rice. Roll the strip tighly until it has all been wrapped around the rice and cucumber. Use a little water to join the nori strip and hold the sushi together.

These rolls could also be made using other vegetables such as carrot matchsticks, beetroot, beansprouts, Enokitake mushrooms or sliced onion. A combination of vegetables could also be used. Vegan cheese spread can also be used as a filling, with or without vegetables.

Futomaki (Thick Rolled Sushi)

Futomaki are wider rolls made in the same way as Su-meshi. These generally contain more than one filling but can also be made using a larger amount of one filling if preferred.